-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- First , there was the war on drugs . Then came the war on terrorism . Followed by the war on Christmas , women and religion . We seem to love waging wars .

And now a new war has broken out : the war on comedy .

This war started just a week ago by those defending Rush Limbaugh 's infamous attack on Sandra Fluke , a Georgetown law school student who simply offered an opinion Limbaugh did n't like . So , Limbaugh being the `` entertainer '' that he is , responded by calling this young woman a `` slut '' and `` prostitute . ''

With Limbaugh under attack for his despicable comments , his supporters launched a desperate counterattack to save him by targeting `` liberal '' comedians like Bill Maher and Louie C.K. for their crude and demeaning jokes about Sarah Palin . Their point was that Limbaugh may have been bad , but he 's not the only one , so he should be forgiven . -LRB- I 'd love to see a defendant in a murder trial try this defense . -RRB-

Thus , the war on comedy was on . The hostilities escalated late last week when Fox News ' Greta Van Susteren called for a boycott of the Congressional Correspondents ' dinner because Louie C.K. was slated to host the event . -LRB- C.K. dropped out of hosting the dinner shortly after the controversy erupted . -RRB-

I 'm not really sure why Limbaugh 's defenders launched this war on comedians . Limbaugh does not even consider himself a comedian ; instead , he 's referred to as an `` entertainer , '' which is the same label often used to describe strippers . -LRB- No offense intended to strippers . -RRB-

In any event , Maher and C.K. were under attack for having crossed the line that comedians are forbidden to transgress .

So , here is the big question : What exactly is the line that comedians are prohibited from breaching ? What type of joke crosses from killing the crowd to killing your career ?

To me , the answer depends on two factors . Are you a famous comedian ? And what type of joke is it ?

If you 're not a famous comic , you can get away with saying almost anything . I perform regularly in the comedy clubs in New York City which feature -- in my opinion -- the top comedians in the nation . But still , night after night you will hear material far worse than anything Maher , C.K. or even `` the entertainer '' Limbaugh would have articulated . There 's no shortage of jokes that are anti-everyone , including anti-women , anti-gay , anti-minority , anti-overweight people , etc. .

In a comedy club setting , it 's very easy as a comedian to determine if you went too far . The audience stops laughing , or at least the laughs drop off considerably . The comic then moves on to the next joke and that is the end of it .

On the other hand , if you 're a famous comedian , it 's a completely different story . If you tell an anti- `` fill in the blank '' joke , you might find yourself on TMZ , hiring a team of publicists , and making the rounds on television shows offering your `` sincerest apologies . ''

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But to me , the more important factor in determining if a comedian -- famous or not -- has crossed the line of decency is to look at the subject matter of the joke .

While I absolutely support freedom of speech , comedians deserve to suffer consequences if they make hateful jokes about race , ethnicity , gender , religion or sexual orientation .

However , comedians must be afforded great leeway when the joke is about a political issue . Lampooning people in power like our president , Congress and political candidates is nearly a cornerstone to our democracy . Even our libel laws provide a higher degree of protection for private citizens than for public figures .

American comedians have a proud tradition of raising awareness on important political and social issues . Richard Pryor , Lenny Bruce , George Carlin , Chris Rock and , of course , Jon Stewart , do more than simply make people laugh -- their comedy can shape public opinion .

The standard for acceptable political comedy can not be whether the joke offended someone . Political jokes will always offend someone since they are inherently divisive . The reason we tell these jokes is not only to get a laugh , but also to challenge people 's views . -LRB- Here 's a little secret : We comedians enjoy the fact we sometimes rankle those in the audience who disagree with our political jokes . -RRB-

Political comedians must be afforded the unfettered right to satirize our politicians -- even if their jokes include crude words such as the ones that Maher and C.K. used about Sarah Palin , who is still considered a leader in the Republican Party even if she is no longer the governor of Alaska .

If we stifle political comedy , we will cause a chilling effect on the free exchange of ideas on political issues . We will not only have lost the war on comedy , but also effectively silenced comedians from telling jokes about any controversial political topics or figures . This would result in two equally dire scenarios for our nation : Less freedom of expression and more prop comedy .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah .

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Dean Obeidallah : A new war has broken out -- a war on comedy

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He says the war started when Rush Limbaugh 's defenders attacked Bill Maher

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Obeidallah : So what exactly is the line that comedians are prohibited from breaching ?

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He says political comedy must not be stifled ; hateful jokes are a problem